At the age of 18, Szeligowski graduated with honours from a classic gymnasium and from the Galician Music Conservatory in Lvov, where he studied piano with Vilém Kurz, and theory of music with Stanisław Niewiadomski. In 1918, he commenced with his studies of Law at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, which he completed in 1922 with a diploma and a Ph.D. in Law. In 1921-28, he studied musicology (as an extramural student) at the Jagiellonian University. In 1923, he moved to Vilnius. In 1925-27, he lectured in the history of music at the Music Conservatory in Vilnius. In 1929, upon receiving a grant from the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Enlightenment, he left Poland to further his studies in Paris, where he polished his composition skills with Nadia Boulanger and instrumentation with Paul Dukas. He returned in 1931 and lectured on theory and composition at the Poznań Music Conservatory. He spent the war years in Vilnius, working as an organist in the St Casimir Church.
In 1945, he became Director of the State Secondary and Music Education School in Lublin. In 1947, he facilitated the opening of the State Higher School of Opera in Poznań and became the Head of this institution. He also became the first Director of the Poznań Philharmonic. During the years that followed, he was in charge of the composition faculty at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw and Poznań. In 1950, he received the title of Professor. In 1951-54, he was President of the Managing Board of the Polish Composers' Union. In 1961, he initiated the "Poznań Musical Spring" Festival.
Tadeusz Szeligowski received numerous awards in composition competitions: in 1930, he received an honourable mention award for his Archaic Suite for orchestra (1930) in the Henryk Melcer Composition Competition in Warsaw; in 1932 – an honourable mention for Psalm 16 oratorium (1931) in the Competition of Singers' Circle Union of the Wielkopolska Region in Poznań; in 1934 – First Prize for the song Regina coeli laetare for choir (1934) in the Competition of the Singers' and Musical Society Union of Małopolska in Lvov; in 1938 – two First Prizes for Psalm of Joy in memoriam Guillaume Dufay for mixed choir (1938) and for the Sailors' Song for mixed choir (1938) in the Competition of the "Śpiewak" (Singer) monthly in Warsaw; in 1948 – Second Prize for his Cantata about sport 100 m for soloist, choir and orchestra (1948) in the Olympics Competition of the Polish Composers' Union; in 1949 – Second Prize (no First Prize was awarded) for the musical dialogue The Prince and the Girl for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra or piano (1948-49) in the Competition of the Polish Radio and Ministry of Culture and Arts for a song to the words of Adam Mickiewicz; Third Prize for Sonata d-moll for piano (1949) in the Fryderyk Chopin Composers' Competition and an honourable mention for the song Arion for tenor with piano (1949) in the Competition for a song to the words of Alexander Pushkin. Apart from these, he was awarded: in 1950 – the Second degree State Prize for his Lublin Wedding for soprano, mixed choir and small symphony orchestra (1948), suite from the ballet The Peacock and the Girl (1948) and the song Arion; in 1951 – First Degree State Prize for the opera The Scholars' Revolt (1951); in 1957 – Prime Minister's Award for the opera Krakatuk (1954); while in 1963 – a Post Mortem Award of the Polish Composers' Union for the whole of his work and a Post-Mortem Award of the Polish Radio and Television for the radio opera-oratorium Odysseus Weeping and Abandoned for reciting voices, choir and symphony orchestra (1962).
In 1930, Tadeusz Szeligowski wrote his Concert for Orchestra. At that time, he was studying in Paris under the guidance of Nadia Boulanger – thanks to the grant that he had received. He was active there in the Association of Young Polish Musicians, of which he was even a member of the Board. Following the performance of his Concert in 1935, in Poznań, the local press published several reviews (their excerpts are cited by Tadeusz Szantruczek in his book To compose... and die).
Tadeusz Z. Kassern was quoted as saying, "Szeligowski wanted to offer 'new contents in an old form' and he did it – without any doubt". Marian Sobieski: "He presented himself to us as a composer who follows the paths of the contemporary atonal trend and operates within a wide scale and many shades of orchestra." Stanisław Wiechowicz said that the Concert is a piece of work "highly experimental, capable of making the listeners lose their focus entirely, while at the same time, it does not lack uniformity of style and it follows a consequent path of experimentation".
These above statements might seem strange when compared with the current conviction found among the Polish musical circles about Szeligowski's conservatism. Even if it is to a certain degree true, it does not concern Szeligowski's earlier works. Tadeusz Szeligowski was at some stage very enthusiastic about modern music. During the First World War, he became fascinated by Debussy's music and while under its influence, he considered himself "an eternal slave to modern music". He remained always open to new musical trends, although in his own work, he did in fact move to positions that were conservative or eclectic, at the least. Still before the Second World War, he expressed his view that music – including contemporary music – should be for everyone, and therefore, any innovations and experimenting should be made within the borders set by the perceptive capabilities of ordinary listeners. "A work of art created without any link to tradition is a dead child already at the time of conception" – he used to tell his students during the 1940's and 1950's. But still, in 1961, he initiated the Festival of Polish Contemporary Music - Poznań Musical Spring, where modern music was to be presented, in all of its manifestations, including also those entirely avantgarde ones.
More important compositions:
- A King from a Peasant, overture to the comedy by Piotr Baryka for orchestra (1926)
- Variations on the Theme from a Folk Song for piano (1927)
- Wanda, a song for voice and piano (1927)
- Lithuanian Folk Songs for voice with piano (1927)
- Lithuanian Song for violin and piano (1928)
- String Quartet no. 1 (1928-29)
- Kaziuki – St Casimir's Day, suite for orchestra (1928-29)
- Green Songs for voice with piano (1929)
- Lilies, a ballad for voice with piano (1929)
- Oaks, an elegy for voice with piano (1929)
- In the Alder Grove, an idyll for voice with piano (1929)
- Hops, a wedding song for voice with piano (1929)
- Nos qui sumus, a motet for 2 male voices (1929)
- O vos omnes, a motet for 3 female voices (1929)
- Timor et tremor, a motet for contralto and tenor (1929)
- Concert for orchestra (1930)
- Archaic Suite for orchestra (1930)
- Two Belarusian Songs for mixed choir (1930)
- Little Suite for orchestra (1931)
- Psalm 16, oratorium (1931)
- Ricercar for 4 instrumental or vocal voices (1931)
- Latin Mass for mixed choir and organs (1932)
- Clarinet Concert (1933)
- Andante for clarinet and orchestra (1933)
- Under the Hood of Snow, Christmas Carol for mixed choir (1933-34)
- Cherry blues for voice, cello and piano (1934)
- String Quartet no. 2 (1934-35)
- Floral Allegories for voice and piano (1934)
- The Angels Sang Sweetly, a motet for mixed choir (1934)
- Quail, Belarusian folk song for male choir (1934)
- Regina coeli laetare, song for choir (1934)
- Trio for oboe, viola and cello (1935)
- Tis Time for Us, song for male choir (1935)
- Blue Bird, suite for orchestra (1936)
- Epitaph on the Death of Karol Szymanowski for string orchestra (1937)
- Fish Ball, song for a children's ensemble (1937)
- Guitars from Zalamea for piano (1938-39)
- Sailors' Song for mixed choir (1938)
- Psalm of Joy in memoriam Guillaume Dufay for mixed choir (1938)
- Christmas Carol Suite for string orchestra (1939)
- Air grave et air gai for English horn and piano (1940)
- Sonatina for piano (1940-41)
- Piano Concert (1941)
- Russian Dance for piano (1942)
- Missa de Angelis for 3 female voices (1942)
- Mass for female choir (1942)
- Dance for cello and piano (1943-45)
- Poem for cello and piano (1943-45)
- Pastorals, miniature for cello and organs (1943-45)
- Sarabanda, miniature for cello and organs (1943-45)
- Ave Maria for soprano, female choir and organs (1943)
- Aria for soprano and organs (1943)
- Ave Maria for 3 female voices (1943)
- Stabat Mater for mixed choir (1943)
- Pange lingua for mixed choir (1943)
- Regina coeli laetare for 3 female voices (1943)
- Popule meus for 3 female voices (1943)
- Veni Creator for 3 female voices (1943)
- Nocturne for cello and piano (1943)
- Lublin Suite for small orchestra (1945)
- Midsummer Kupała Night, suite for orchestra (1945)
- Orientale, miniature for cello and piano (1945)
- Songs to the Words of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz for voice and piano (1945)
- Five Folk Songs from the Lublin Region for female or children's choir (1945)
- Five Folk Songs from the Lublin Region for 3-voice mixed choir (1945)
- Four Wedding Songs from the Lublin Region for mixed choir (1945)
- Let Us All Sit Down Together, suite of 12 popular songs from the years 1810-1875 for mixed choir (or soprano and alto) and piano (1945)
- Triptych for soprano and orchestra (1946)
- Koszałki-opałki / This and that, scherzo for male choir (1946)
- Nocturne for orchestra (1947)
- Green Birch Tree, song for voice with piano (1947)
- My Girl, song for voice and piano (1947)
- The Road from Różan, song for voice with piano (1947)
- The Peacock and the Girl, ballet in 3 acts (1948)
- The Prince and the Girl, musical dialogue for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra or piano (1948-49)
- 100 m, a cantata on sport for solo voice, choir and orchestra (1948)
- Wedding Suite for soprano, tenor, female choir, mixed choir and piano (1948)
- Lublin Wedding for soprano, mixed choir and small symphony orchestra (1948)
- Look Outside, Young Lads, song for mixed choir (1948)
- Rhapsody for soprano and orchestra (1949)
- Sonata d-moll for piano (1949)
- Arion, song for tenor with piano (1949)
- Demon, song for tenor with piano (1949)
- Pigeons, song for soprano and piano (1949)
- Scholars' Revolt, opera in 4 acts (1951)
- Ballad about Kostka-Napierski for voice and piano (1951)
- Comedy Overture for small symphony orchestra (1952)
- Two Etudes for Double Sounds for piano (1952)
- Minor Pieces for piano (1952)
- Tiny Items for 4 hands for piano (1952)
- The Card of Hearts, cantata for soprano, mixed choir and symphony orchestra (1952)
- Zosia, suite for choir accompanied by orchestra (1952)
- The Peacock and the Girl, ballet suite for orchestra (1953)
- Renegade, ballad for bass and orchestra or piano (1953)
- Quintet for Wind Instruments (1953)
- Sonata for flute and piano (1953)
- Song about Three Mauritanian Women for voice with piano (1953)
- Four Polish Dances for symphony orchestra (1954)
- Krakatuk, opera in 3 acts with prologue (1954)
- Trio for violin, cello and piano (1955-56)
- On the Meadow, suite for 2 pianos (1955)
- Song for the 10th Anniversary [version 1] for mixed choir with piano (1955)
- Song for the 10th Anniversary [version 2] for a cappella mixed choir (1955)
- Mazepa, ballet in 3 acts (1957)
- Polish Love Songs for stagg flutes (1959)
- Theodor Gentleman, opera in 2 acts (1960)
- Soledad, song for voice and piano (1960)
- Psalm 116 'Laudate Dominum' for mixed or boys' choir (1960)
- Odysseus Weeping and Abandoned, radio opera-oratorium for reciting voices, choir and symphony orchestra (1962)
- Rex inclitus (Rex gloriosus) [unfinished work], a cantata for solo voices, choir and symphony orchestra (1962)